The Blessed Fire Alarm
by InfinityFistTheMonarchOfMen
Summary: An AU. Tokka. Not sure where this is going. LANGUAGE The fire alarm goes off and destroys Toph's apartment. What will happen when a kind stranger helps her out?
1. Chapter 1

The Blessed Fire Alarm

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This is an AU on the highest level. I have no idea where this is going so there we go!

* * *

Toph Bei Fong sat on her couch throwing a toy chicken at her Seeing Eye Dog. Her one and only companion in this big world of darkness and danger. Bandit chased it chaotically around the room, running into walls in the process. He forgot to bring his toy back. Toph sighed and heaved herself up, going back to the kitchen to refill her glass of wine.

Work was especially hard today; two stupid men wanted some stupid contract signed handing the company over from one to the other. The previous owner was hitting on her until he noticed she was blind. He only recognized it when she pulled out her brail copy of the contract. The whole scenario ended in both men, having now signed the document, running from her office as fast as they possibly could.

It only went to reinforce her convictions that men are more blind than she is. They see a pretty face and nothing else. Not the fact that she is an outstanding Business Law lawyer who graduated top of her class, knows ti chi _and_ three languages. Do they see any of that? No. They don't. They only run. They always run.

Yeah, well run motherfuckers, _run._ Because The Blind Bandit, she and Bandit, enjoys messing with people who call her weak or crippled or, for Oma's sake, _handicapped_.

Something shattered off to her left, "BANDIT!" She scolded her _loving_ dog. The moron.

She hesitantly, sweeping one foot out in front of her at a time before placing her weight on it, made her way over to where the sound came from. "Dumb dog, what'd you do this time?"

Gently, he nudged her leg, _apologizing,_ "You have some nerve, dog." She waved him off and took another step only to recoil in pain, she obviously stepped on a piece of glass or ceramic or who the fuck know's what.

She gave up and fell back on her butt, hard. Bandit sniffed her foot, presumably the blood too, then licked her cheek apologizing again, "You would be _so_ dead right now if I didn't love you so damn much." She threatened, picking the glass out of her foot and crawling back to the kitchen to get a rag. "I'm going to let Mother take care of this in the morning."

Mrs. Bei Fong was coming to visit the next day. She visited once a week for brunch, complained about things in Toph's life, then leaves her alone for a whole week. It was… endurable.

She pulled a clean rag out of the drawer and wetting it, cleaned her wound as best she could. She grabbed the first aid kit and did her best. When she stood she could walk, but it hurt like hell. Wonderful, how was she going to get into her stupid pinch-y shoes tomorrow?

"You know what, I don't care. That is future Toph's problem. Come on Bandit, let's go to bed." She hobbled to her room and threw off her clothes also not caring where they ended up, and crawled into bed snuggling under her fluffy sheets.

Tomorrow would be better.

It had to be.

* * *

The alarm was going off.

There was no smell of coffee in the air from her automatic coffee maker. Fuck.

Toph took a swing at her alarm clock.

No effect.

Bandit barked. He pulled the sheets off her, she groaned at the cold air attacked her partly naked body.

"Stop." She barked back then growled mocking him.

The alarm increased in volume and suddenly the sky opened up, water pored down on her from the sprinkler system.

"Fire?" She sat up confused. There was a fire somewhere nearby. "Bandit. Outside."

She got out of bed and placed a hand on his head letting him lead her to the door quicker than she could have made it there herself in her panicked state.

She opened the door noting that the handle was warm but not hot. The Fire was close. Though, when she opened the door smoke assaulted her lungs, it hung thick in the air making it almost impossible to breathe. "Bandit. Stairs." She coughed and placed her hand at her side waiting for him to guide her, but he never nudged her hand indicating the way. He had ran. He had left her.

She was all alone.

"HELP!" She screamed as she made her way away from the heat, she had no other options left.

"Not that way!" A man shouted behind her grabbing her hand and rushing the opposite way. Toward the fire...

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" She screamed only to inhale more smoke, regardless she followed. He was the only way out.

Within seconds they were outside breathing sweet fresh fucking air. She collapsed on her hands and knees on the grass coughing and gagging. The man was coughing beside her. "Not so crazy now, huh?"

"Thank you." She gasped rolling over onto her back as she listened to the sirens grow closer and more people cough around her. People were wailing, some were shouting or crying. Most were in shock.

"Did everyone get out okay?" The mysterious man raised his voice to the crowd. No one spoke up. It seemed that they all had their kids and loved ones...

"BANDIT!" The good-for-nothing dog was all she had, he could still be trapped inside... "He's still in there!" Toph rose from the ground just as someone very familiar brushed her leg. "Bandit." She whispered hugging him so tight that he was wheezing. Nevertheless, his tail was wagging furiously. He was happy that she made it out okay. She was happy about that too.

"See, everyone's alright." The man said, "Here, take this." He must have been holding out something.

Not sure of what it was, Toph held out her hand. He placed a soft, yet smoke scented, piece of fabric in her hands. It must be a blanket or a jacket. "Thank you." It turned out to be a hoodie. Oh, that's right. She went to sleep in her underwear... well this was embarrassing. She quickly donned the hoodie. At least she was wearing boy-shorts so it almost looked like pajamas.

"No problem. So, I'm new here. Does this happen often?" He joked taking a seat beside her in the grass.

"This would be the first time in the history of the establishment as far as I'm aware." The fire department was finally here in full force and doing their best to quell the flames.

"That's good."

"Yup." They lapsed into silence as they listened to the men work.

"It looks like the fire started because some kid set off some fireworks in his room." A fireman said to his friend.

"By Agni, what do parents do these days?!" His friend replied.

"Who knows." They walked off not bothering to ask if anyone was okay.

"You wouldn't happen to have a Band-Aid, would you?" Her new man friend asked out of the blue.

"Does it look like a do?" She emptied his hoodie pockets dramatically, and actually found a Band-Aid. "Here," She shoved it in his direction. "It's yours anyway."

"Ah, haha. Well, I was going to back that up with, because I skinned my knee falling for you, but I guess that doesn't really work now does it?"

"Gods, that was cheesy." She shook her head and resumed to pet Bandit.

"Yeah, but you're smiling. So I did something right." He bumped her shoulder gently. He was right, she was smiling despite herself.

"FIRE'S OUT!" A fireman yelled. "Apartments 1534, 35, 36 and 37 are destroyed. If one of those apartment are yours then I suggest calling someone who you can stay with until it is habitable again."

"Shit." She mumbled taking a deep breath and trying hard not to cry. 1537 was _hers_.

"Hey, you okay?" Cheesy-joke-guy asked.

"No. Stupid fire got my stupid apartment. Can I borrow your phone?" She would have to move into her parents place again… Hells. Anything would be better than that.

"Sure," She made to stand and bumped into him because he went to help her up, he too was in his underwear or pajama bottoms or whatever. He was bare chested… And he was sculpted by the gods. So muscled. "Sorry. Anyway, it's back inside."

She heard the soft crunch of the grass under his bare feet as he walked away. "Thanks..."

He stopped, "Aren't you coming?"

Toph thought for a moment, should she play up her blindness and cop a feel or should she let Bandit guide her? Bandit does kind of suck as a guide dog when he's out of harness… "I'm blind."

"Really?! You seem so…" He paused looking for the right word, "Independent."

"Normally I am, but after tonight… Plus, Bandit's harness got all burnt up."

"Alright then," He came back and let her take his arm guiding her back to his apartment, he lived down the hall from her. Precisely four apartments. "Here we are. Home sweet home."

"It's beautiful. I love what you've done with the place."

"Thanks!" She could hear the evident pride in his voice; he was probably puffing out his chest too. "Hey, wait…" She giggled. "You know what, that was unusually cruel for a blind person." He teased.

"So?" On a good day, The Blind Bandit could con anyone out of anything and pull the greatest of pranks.

"Here's the phone. You do have someone you can stay with right?" He handed her an old fashioned rotary phone.

She paused in the middle of punching in her mother's number, "Yeah…" She sighed depressed.

"You can stay here for the night if you want. I like the couch better anyway."

"I wouldn't want to impose?" Could she really crash in a place of a person she just met?

"I would hope that if the situation were reversed you would do the same for me."

"Well then in that case, thank you!" Yes, yes she could. Anything was better than moving back in with her parents.

"The bedroom locks from the inside and also leads to the bathroom which only has one door. So there's that." He laughed awkwardly.

She gave a nod of acknowledgment before turning her attentions back to the old ass phone in her hand. "Hello, mom?"

 _"Toph, what are you doing calling so late?"_ She sounded pretty annoyed. _"I don't recognize the number."_

Well, that does it. "Something happened with the apartment so I won't be able to make brunch tomorrow."

 _"What do you mean something happened? Do I need to make your father come and get you?"_

"No, I'm staying with a friend tonight…" Toph realized that she didn't know Cheesy-joke-guy's name.

She turned to his general direction and knowing what she was asking he answered, "Name's Sokka. Rhymes with okka."

"… Sokka." Toph finished. "Well, I'll call you tomorrow when I know more." She hung up the phone. "Thanks, Sokka. I'm Toph."

 **6/23/15**


	2. Chapter 2

Toph woke up a few hours later, although she didn't actually know how long it had been, since all her shit had been destroyed in the gods damn fire last night. Bandit was practically on top of her, he hated being in new places like this. Or he was still freaked out by last night, either the fire or he had almost lost her to the fire. Either way, the dumb dog was suffocating her slowly with his gigantic head on her chest. "Time to get up dog."

Bandit sprung into action and bounded off to the door wagging his tail impatiently. "Calm your tits dude. I have to pee too and I'm the human so I get to go first on account of the fact that I pay all the bills and have opposable thumbs." She mumbled as she tried desperately to find the bathroom door. She should have scoped the place out last night instead of just collapsing on the bed.

Finally she found a door and opened it. "Morning." Sokka greeted her and the overwhelming smell of bacon and pancakes hit her like a brick. So much for her fucking diet. This guy was amazing. "You sleep okay?"

"Good morning. Yeah, fine. Bathroom?" She asked while trying to casually smooth down her unruly hair.

"Going into my room it's about three steps in and directly to the left. Careful the toilet has a low hanging cabinet over it." He warned.

"Thanks." Toph closed the door again and followed his instructions and found the correct door this time, she located the toilet easy enough, but forgot about the cabinet in her haste to urinate. "FUCK!" She yelped as she smacked the back of her head. Bandit sniffed at her knee, "You know the rules, leave me alone while I pee." She waved the dog off with one hand and rubbed her noggin with the other.

Finished, she re-appeared into the main room and followed her nose to the kitchen. "Smells good."

"It tastes even better. Here," Sokka guided her over to his dining room table and set a plate down in front of her. "I took the day off work if you want some help salvaging some stuff from your place."

"You are too kind, but I can't possibly let you help after all you've done for me." She protested sitting down.

"Hey, I know when I'm not wanted. Enough said. But I did already take the whole day off so if you need me I'll be right here. Now, please eat the completely unbalanced breakfast I have slaved in the kitchen to make you." He left only to return with a plate of his own. "Pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage. Take you pick its all on the plate. Sorry to say, but I don't have syrup."

"How could you serve pancakes without syrup?!" Toph joked as she fumbled around for her fork. Breakfast was delicious. The sausage was definitely the best out of the whole spread. They ate quietly.

Toph was thinking about all the things she needed to to, call her insurance company, find a friend to crash with, salvage her stuff, new harness for Bandit, take a week off work to get her shit together, either find a new place entirely or start renovations immediately.

"So," Sokka started. "What can I do to help? Seriously. I'm not trying to be creepy here, but I would think that you would want some new clothes or something first before you start wandering around."

Shopping, that was at the top of her list. "Fine, you can help me see if there is anything worth salvaging. Thank you. Can I ask another favor? Do you have a leash or anything that I can use to walk Bandit?"

"Um, not really, but I do have a small back yard. Want me to let him out?" Sokka asked. Before she had even answered, Sokka was already up and calling to her dog, "Come on boy. Outside." She heard the door open and close then Sokka was back.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure." They lapsed into silence again. "Sooooo, would you like to borrow a pair of pants? I mean, I'm not really complaining, neon yellow suits you, but, you know, conservativeness and all that."

"Please," Toph blushed deep red and pushed her food around on her plate. "I would appreciate that."

Sokka left the table again and reappeared with a pair of jeans and a belt, "Here."

She heard him leave again, it sounded like he was going back to the bedroom. Shit, she forgot to remake the bed. Quickly she wiggled into the jeans to find that they fit quite well, maybe a little more loose than she was use to, but not uncomfortably so.

"Oh, good. They fit." Sokka said reappearing.

"Yeah, pretty well too. What size skinny jean are you?" She heard him chuckle.

"They're my sisters, she likes to leave clothes for when she surprise visits." He explained. "Here, I got you a pair of slippers too. Hey, is your foot okay?"

"What? Oh, that. I stepped on a piece of glass last night, I think it's okay." She waved it off, not really concerned.

"Alright, if you say so." Sokka said as he handed her the shoes and cleared the table while she put them on. "Want to make some calls before we go look at your place?"

"Nah, I'd rather figure out what I need before I start talking to people."

"Then lets go."

They walked down the hall and stopped in front of her door, with a careful push she managed to open her apartment. Behind her Sokka let out a low whistle. "What does it look like?" She asked.

"Not good. Everything is covered in black soot." He pushed past her, she heard the crunch of his shoes against the remains of her belongings as he moved around looking for anything. "It looks like there are a few clothes that made it, they might never be soot free but they would work until you can get something else. I can wash them for you later. He brought the items to outside the door. "Hey, here's Bandit's harness. One less thing to worry about."

Toph couldn't really say anything, she just let him rummage. He would occasionally come back with something like a hairbrush that hadn't melted or a single sock. She just stood there in the doorway thinking about everything she had lost. Her books, Bandit's toys, bedding and bed for that matter, her degree, her family photos. Everything.

"I don't think there's anything left to salvage." Sokka said shaking her out of her thoughts. "Hey, it's going to be okay."

"I know. Did you manage to find my purse? It was on the coffee table by the couch."

"You mean the lump of coal on the pile of ash next to the remains of what looks to be a couch? I'll check." He rushed off leaving Toph to crack a sadistic smile. "Found it!" He called and came jogging back. "It's singed on the outside, but the inside should be fine."

"Thanks." She took it from him and rummaged around before she found her wallet. Good her cards hadn't melted and she had a bit of cash too. Already she was feeling better, now she wasn't _forced_ to mooch off her parents or anyone else.

"So, what next boss?" Sokka asked.

"Back to your place so I can call a few people."

* * *

Toph talked to her mother, who freaked the fuck out for all of ten minutes and sent Dad over to get her. After finally hearing enough of The Life Giver's voice Toph hung up on her and caller her boss. He was pretty chill about her taking as much time as she needed to get her affairs in order, but she would be on call if they had an emergency. Which was fine. She expected that.

Next she screamed at the insurance company and threatened to sue if they didn't have an appraiser out here by tomorrow afternoon and a check by Friday. After she had the insurance person on the other end of the phone about to piss themselves they hung up on her and she replaced the phone on it's connector. "Gods damned sons of bitches better show up." She mumbled to Bandit who was sleeping at her feet.

"Hey, while you were on the phone, I managed to finish the laundry. Most of the soot came out. It's all folded on the couch." Sokka said from somewhere off to her right.

"Thanks!" She called back. "My Dad's going to be here soon. Thank you again for everything." There was a rap on the door.

Toph quickly made her way over to the door and was greeted by the sound of her father's voice, "TOPH!" He swept her up in a giant bear hug. "I've been so worried. Are you okay? Have you been back to your apartment yet? Do you need anything?"

"Dad I'm fine. Yes and just a place to crash for a while. Preferably where mom stays out of my hair." She replied as he returned her father's hug with the same fervor. Bandit came bounding up, he really liked Toph's Dad. Probably because whenever he was around Bandit got way more treats and playtime.

"Hey, bud. How's it going? Been good?" Dad broke the hug to greet Bandit then he noticed Sokka. "You must be the young man who helped my daughter last night. Sokka is it? Hello, I'm Lao Beifong."

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Sokka replied.

"Thank you for all your help."

"It was my pleasure. I would hope that if the situation was reversed then your daughter would be kind enough to give me a place to crash for the night. Here," There was a rustling as he passed something in a plastic bag over to Dad. "Everything that we salvaged is in there."

 _"Everything?! Everything I own fits into a plastic bag…"_ Toph thought ruefully.

"Thank you again. Well, we should be going, Toph. Your mother is worried sick." Dad said giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

She nodded not really wanting to say anything for fear of exposing the lump in her throat that had just formed. She grabbed Bandit's harness and quietly fastened it. Soon she was in the car letting her tears surface and silently slip down her cheeks.

 **Posted 6/25/15**


End file.
